The bridge over the Strait of Messina has obtained the definitive green light of the Cipess, the interministerial committee for economic planning and sustainable development.
After more than half a century of discussions, preliminary projects, political stops and disputes the work now approaches a step to become reality. We are now awaiting the examination of the Court of Auditors for the financial aspects of what promises to become the longest unique span bridge in the world.
Bridge on the Strait of Messina: costs, numbers and records
The bridge over the Strait will be a total of 3,666 meters long, with a suspended span of 3,300 meters, a world record.
The structure, about 60 meters wide, will host 6 road lanes (3 by direction, one of which an emergency) and a double railway line, with capacity up to 6,000 vehicles per hour and 200 trains per day. The 2 steel towers will reach a height of 399 meters, overcoming many European skyscrapers in height. The height from the sea will be 72 meters, sufficient for the passage of large ships.
But the large work is not limited to the bridge: about 40 km of road and railway fittings are expected, 3 underground stations, about 10 viaducts and galleries and a directional center. The goal is to connect the bridge to the high-speed network Salerno-Reggio Calabria and to the Palermo-Catania-Messina railway director.
The total cost is estimated at over 13.5 billion euros, entirely financed with public funds. The economic analyzes released by the government speak of 23.1 billion euros of contribution to GDP, 36,700 jobs and 10.3 billion of tax revenues generated already in the construction site.
Bridge on the Strait, why yes
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure led by Matteo Salvini, the Messina bridge will allow to reduce the times of crossing the Strait to 15 actual travel, improving logistics and interconnection between Sicily and continent. Today it takes almost an hour (between expectations, boarding and navigation) in low season and even several hours in high season. Salvini spoke of a “Strait Metro”, with 3 stops on the Messina side and rapid connections for students, commuters and tourists.
From a macroeconomic point of view, the government claims that the work will be a flywheel for southern Italy, not only during the construction but also in the long run, bringing
- greater efficiency in the transport of goods and people;
- increase in tourist flows;
- reduction of transport costs;
- minors emissions from ferries and vehicles;
- Development of new production chains in the engineering sector.
Bridge on the Strait, why not
The project of the bridge over the tight continues to meet numerous oppositions.
The “no bridge” theorists claim that 13.5 billion could be invested to modernize existing infrastructures in Sicily and Calabria (roads, railways, ports) that remain among the most lacking in Europe.
The current flows of goods and passengers between the two sides are judged insufficient to justify a work of this reach, with the risk of a bridge that will be underutilized.
Then there is a suspicion that winds: Italy has a long history of great works with budgets leavened over time. Some fear that 13.5 billion can grow, aggravating public debt.
Although with 62 mitigation and compensation prescriptions approved in the environmental impact assessment, environmental associations denounce possible devastating effects on marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
Although the designers ensure high safety standards, the area remains one of the most seismic in Italy.
Then there is the unknown of maintenance: the memory of the collapse of the Morandi bridge and the numerous viaducts collapsed on the highways is still alive in the population. The fear is that the same negligence is applied to the bridge on the strait seen in immensely less complex works.
The no to the most clear bridge comes from the expropriated: 450 properties will be demolished to make room for the construction sites of the bridge over the Strait, 150 in Calabria, 300 in Sicily. Hundreds of families will have to say goodbye to their homes.
